title: The effect of feedback-assisted reduction in heart rate reactivity on videogame performance.
abstract: In 67 male volunteers, we examined the reduction of cardiovascular responsivity to a psychomotor challenge (videogame) achieved by use of heart rate (HR) feedback and effects of these procedures on concomitant behavioral performance. Each subject participated in a pretraining assessment of his cardiovascular responses to the videogame, a training condition, and a posttraining assessment identical to the initial evaluation. During training, subjects were assigned to one of four conditions: (a) a habituation control group receiving no instructions to alter HR (HC); (b) an instructions-only control group receiving instructions to maintain a low or unchanged HR during videogame presentations (IC); (c) a feedback group receiving instructions to reduce HR using ongoing HR feedback (FB-); or (d) a feedback group receiving instructions to lower HR and given HR feedback plus a score contingency in which total game score was jointly determined by subjects' game performance and success at HR control (FB+). Subjects receiving feedback (FB+, FB-) exhibited greater reductions in HR response to the videogame in the posttraining assessment than control (HC, IC) subjects; FB+ subjects showed greater HR reductions than subjects in any other group. FB+ and FB- subjects showed a lower SBP at posttraining relative to the two control groups, but no reduction in task-induced blood pressure reactivity. There were no group differences in videogame performance, either before or following training.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, West Virginia University, Morgantown 26506.
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Larkin
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Manuck
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Kasprowicz
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D005246:Feedback / Q000502:physiology*; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*